University of Southern Indiana senior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) was named the American Baseball Coaches Association Midwest Region Player of the Year. McNamara is the third Screaming Eagle to earn the region player of the year honor from the ABCA and the second of the year for the senior.

Kevin Brown and Darin Mastroianni were the first Eagles to be named region player of the year by the ABCA, earning the award in 1993 and 2007, respectively.

McNamara, who also was named first-team All-Midwest Region as an outfielder for the third time this month, has had a record-setting season for the Eagles in 2018. The senior outfielder leads the team with a .390 batting average and singles-season records of 79 RBIs and 17 home runs.

In addition to the single-season record for home runs and RBIs, the 2018 GLVC Player of the Year and NCBWA All-Midwest Region Player of the Year also has set the USI career-record for home runs (33) and is closing on the career-marks for total bases (404) and RBIs (182).

Named to the second-team All-Midwest Region was senior utility player Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) and junior catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana). Gobert, who has seen action this year at first base, third base, left field, and on the mound, follows McNamara in the batting column with a .361 average, 54 RBIs, two home runs, and a team-high 26 doubles.

A two-time All-Midwest Region honoree this spring, Gobert is 5-3 on the mound with a 4.37 ERA in 15 appearances and four starts. He has two saves and has struck out 43 batters in 47.1 innings of work.

Brown was named second-team for the third time in the last two weeks. The first-team All-GLVC East selection is hitting .344 with 40 RBIs and four home runs. Brown is hitting .441 during the 2018 post-season with three runs scored, four doubles, and nine RBIs.

The Screaming Eagles start NCAA Division II Baseball Championship action this weekend. Opponents and start times are still to be determined. The Division II Baseball Championship is May 26-June 2 in Cary, North Carolina.

Indiana University head swimming coach Ray Looze announced the hiring of Dr. Kirk Grand on Wednesday. Dr. Grand will serve as the assistant sprint coach for both the men’s and women’s swimming teams.

Along with his hiring to the swimming staff, Dr. Grand was also appointed the Associate Director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming.

The Counsilman Center is named after James E. “Doc” Counsilman and honors his seminal work in developing the science of swimming. Doc Counsilman’s legacy to Indiana University is his unflinching pursuit of the scientific bases for swimming performance and his dedication to the use of academic research in that pursuit. As such, the Counsilman Center aims to continue to provide the swimming community with valuable information as a means to advance the sport of competitive swimming.

“We are excited to add Dr. Kirk Grand to our coaching staff, “ Looze remarked. At the beginning of this search process, my goal was to enhance our coaching staff on the pool deck, in recruiting and in the area of swimming innovation. With our current roster of athletes who range from varsity to Olympians and professionals, Indiana University is committed to its growth as a global hotbed for the sport of swimming. With the hiring of Dr. Grand, we honor Dr. Counsilman’s legacy and reconnect ourselves to the academic pursuit of swimming excellence which the Counsilman Center for Swimming research has contributed to since its inception. This is another positive step forward for our program toward Tokyo 2020.”

Dr. Grand comes to Bloomington from Auburn University, where he served as an assistant coach for two seasons and a volunteer assistant coach for another three. At Auburn, Dr. Grand was the primary coach for 19 All-American swimmers and multiple-time SEC and NCAA finalists and qualifiers. Dr. Grand also served as a USA Swimming National Team coach in 2018.

“I am elated by the opportunity to be a part of something special at Indiana,” Dr. Grand said. “I am humbled to join a program with not only a rich tradition of excellence, but also one that has, and continues to have, a tremendous impact on the sport of swimming. Ray is the most hardworking and passionate coach in the country. I am excited and thankful to work with such an amazing staff and administration. Most importantly, I’m inspired to coach and learn from the best group of young people in the country.”

At Auburn, Grand was the recruiting coordinator for the men’s team and also led and designed practices for the sprint group. One of those sprinters, Zach Apple, won the SEC title in the 50 freestyle and also won gold in the event at the 2017 World Championships. On the women’s side, Auburn won the SEC 400 freestyle relay championship in 2018.

Grand, who specialized in psychophysiology while earning his PhD from Auburn, assisted with the day-to-day functions of the Auburn swimming and diving program while the volunteer assistant. He presented evidence-based research to the team and lead mindfulness, self-talk, physiology and performance anxiety information sessions.

While at Auburn, Grand remained a research associate for the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming and has also previously worked with the Longhorn Swim Camp.

Grand has been a USA Swimming Head Coach in Bloomington, Ind., designing training plans for athletes ranging from national level to learn to swim. From 2011-13 he was a head men’s high school swim coach and a swim technique instructor in Bloomington, winning Indiana High School Coach of the Year and National High School Federation Sectional Coach of the Year honors in 2012.

Grand graduated Cum Laude from Ohio State University in 2010 after being a member of the Miami (Ohio) University swim team from 2006-08. He earned his Master’s in Exercise Physiology, Human Performance from Indiana University in 2013.

Grand has been published in multiple publications as well as the book, The Science of Swimming Faster. He has also presented at the American Swim Coaches Association World Clinic on the limits to superior performance.